‘Star Trek: Discovery’ May Bring Back More Classic Characters

The upcoming Star Trek: Discovery will serve as the next chapter for the Star Trek franchise, twelve years after the cancellation of the last television spinoff, Enterprise.

With the show set ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery has the potential to give audiences new insight into the Star Trek world, but it also has an opportunity to build on existing Star Trek characters by giving classic characters a new introduction and audiences a look at perhaps how some of their favorite characters got their start.

Click through for three classic Star Trek characters that could appear in Star Trek: Discovery.

Spock

While Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the Kelvin timeline of the reboot Star Trek films has said that it would be unlikely that he would appear on Discovery bringing a young version of Spock into the show is an obvious choice. One of the main characters in Discovery, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) was raised by Spock’s father, Sarek, on planet Vulcan. This not only gives the show plenty of fodder with Burnham, who was a human orphan, being torn between two cultural identities but opens up for a little family drama should the show choose to bring Spock in.

Captain Pike

The original pilot for Star Trek featured a Captain Christopher Pike as captain of the USS Enterprise. Entitled “The Cage,” the pilot was rejected by NBC though elements of the episode were later recycled into the two-part episode “The Menagerie.” With “The Cage” set in 2254 and around Discovery’s timeline, Pike could very well still be commander of the Enterprise and it would give Discovery the unique opportunity to further explore Captain Pike, as well as the events from “The Cage.”

Captain Kirk

Incorporating a young James T. Kirk well before he becomes captain of the Enterprise would be great way to tie Discovery to the Star Trek franchise’s long history and passionate fan base. While the events of 2009’s Star Trek film and the creation of the Kelvin timeline did make some changes to Kirk’s story, he could still appear in Discovery. Kirk would be fresh out of Starfleet Academy during Discovery’s timeline so it wouldn’t be completely out of the realm of possibility for Kirk encounter the USS Shenzhou or the USS Discovery as a newly graduated ensign.

Star Trek: Discovery will debut on Sept. 24.

Set 10 years prior to the five-year mission of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Discovery follows the adventures of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters, and new missions while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.